From the DE 40 08 655 A1 a contacting apparatus or card connector, in particular for a SIM (subscriber identity module) card is already known, wherein the card, in particular the SIM-card is received in a cover and is supported at its rear edge by a supporting surface during the pivotal movement from an open position to a closed position. These SIM-card connectors are often used in devices such as mobile phones in which little or limited construction space is available. The desire for progressively smaller devices, as it is the case for example for mobile phones, makes it necessary to thrive for the further reduction of the size of the SIM-card connector which is to be inserted into such devices.
The card connector of DE 40 08 655 A1 is shown in cross section in FIG. 9. For receiving and guiding a SIM-card 1 in a cover 164, the cover 164 is provided with two guide projections 90 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 9). The projections 90 define--as is shown in FIG. 9--a tunnel, wherein oppositely located wall portions 92 provide for the guidance of the SIM-card at its side edges. A guiding means 140 comprises an abutment surface 88 at the contact support 63 which limits the depth of insertion of the SIM-card 1. When closing the cover 164 the SIM-card is rotated along the abutment surface 88 into a recess 78 of the contact support 63. The cover 164 also comprises a locking pin 89 for locking the closed cover. A pivot point 65 for pivotally supporting the cover 164 on the contact support 63 is provided on supporting blocks 124 and is located further to a rearward direction (towards the left in FIG. 9) of the contact support in comparison to the abutment surface 88.
A modification of the connector of the prior art is shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, where the abutment surface 88 is formed by an abutment shoulder 138 having a semicircular shape. A pivoting axis 160 for the cover 170 is defined at the supporting blocks 124 for supporting the cover 170 on the contact support in a similar fashion as the cover 164 is supported by the pivot points 65 in FIG. 9. When moving the cover 170 together with the inserted SIM-card 1 from its open position to its closed position, a rear edge of the SIM-card 1 is guided by the abutment surface 88 along a semicircular path or curve.